This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolutionary origins of same-sex attraction, evaluating multiple existing evolutionary theories. It combines empirical findings with theoretical arguments in order to review evidence on the prevalence rates of same-sex attraction and determine its genetic and environmental basis.

Among the topics addressed:

Attitudes towards same-sex attraction across human history
Assessing the weak selection pressures hypothesis of attraction
Assessing the male choice hypothesis of attraction
Evolution of same-sex attraction in men versus women

The Evolution of Same-Sex Attraction will be of interest to academics and students of evolutionary and psychological sciences, filling a gap in literature on the origins of specifically same-sex attraction.

Auteur
Dr Menelaos Apostolou is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Nicosia, Cyprus. He was born in Athens, Greece and he completed his post-graduate and graduate studies in the United Kingdom. He has published several peer-reviewed papers, books and chapters in books in the area of evolutionary psychology.

Contenu
Chapter 1: What is to be explained?Sexual orientationTransgender people and sexual orientationPrevalenceThe myth of sexual fluidityLongitudinal studiesSmall scale studiesLarge scale studiesRetrospective evidenceIs sexual fluidity a real phenomenon?Sexual arousal and sexual attractionChapter 2: The genetic basis of same-sex attractionThe genetic basis of sexual orientationFamily StudiesTwin StudiesThe heritability of sexual orientationDoes sexual orientation depend on the environment?Gender reassignment studiesMolecular Genetic StudiesChapter 3: Environmental factors affecting same-sex attractionThe environment and same-sex attractionAspects of the environmentThe fraternal birth order effectDysfunctional relationships with parentsAdoption by non-heterosexual parentsSeduction by non-heterosexual individualsEpgenetcsChapter 4: Evolutionary theories on same-sex attractionThe fitness cost of same-sex attractionSame-sex attractions in menCo-occurrence with another trait that is under positiveIncreased fecundity of female relativesGroup benefitsSame-sex alliancesParental manipulationInclusive fitness hypothesesSame-sex attractions in womenSecuring alloparental helpReduction in conflict in polygynous marriagesAssessing the current evolutionary theoriesChapter 5: Same-sex attraction in human history: Classical Greece, Imperial Rome and Christian EuropeWhen same-sex attraction first appearedThe hunting and gathering period of human evolutionThe agropastoral period of human evolutionHistorical evidenceLimitations of the historical recordClassical Greece (5th and 4th centuries BC)Imperial Rome (27 BC 395AD)Ancient Celts (Greek and Roman times)Christina Europe (5th 18th centuries AD)Christianity and homosexualityMedieval EuropeLater Christian era- Renaissance- EuropeNorth American ColoniesChristian focus on marriage and childrenChapter 6: Same-sex attraction in human history: Central and South America, Islamic world, and AsiaCentral and South America [15th 16th century AD]Islamic world (8th century AD 20th century AD)Imperial China (3nd century BC 20th century AD)Imperial Japan [10th century AD 19th century AD]Pre-modern India [8th century BC 19th century AD]Chapter 7: Assessing the evidence from the historical recordSummary of the historical records on same-sex attractionMaking sense of the historical evidenceSame-sex attraction is not a recent phenomenonVariation in the tolerance for same-sex attraction and contactThe mandatory nature of heterosexual marriageNo instances of institutionalized same-sex marriageFemale same-sex attraction was underreported or ignoredDifferentiation between the passive and the active roleMale desire for young menEvolutionary implicationsChapter 8: The Weak Selection Pressures HypothesisHow the body is sexedGenetic mutationsThe mutation-similar expression hypothesisFamilialityPleiotropyThe weak selection pressures hypothesisSmall phenotypic effectThe shielding effect of being in the correct sexAncestral preferencesRarity of same-sex outletsChapter 9: The weak selection pressures hypothesis: Regulation of mating, male-male competiti...